Remember to drink your milk
by Sock of Sand
Summary: A challenge of a different sort for Seigaku's Ochibi. From the Grim Reaper, no less. [Completed]
1. Nan de

Disclaimer : 'Tennis no Ohjisama' belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

For a teacher, a colleague and a friend who adhere to her principles with great tenacity till the last.

* * *

**Nan**** de****[1]**

Two pairs of eyes followed the troubled gaze to the pixie-faced first-year who was his usual nonchalant self and back to the black-haired substitute captain who had worry writ all over his kind face.

"Something's up between Oishi and Ochibi[2]!"

"Zettai[3]!"

Despite being so worried that he was quite ready to swear, (In private, of course, and not too loudly.) Oishi Shuichiro could not dispel the creepy feeling he felt on the back of his neck. He turned and saw a sight which would have looked fishy, if he was not so preoccupied. Kikumaru Eiji and Momoshiro Takeshi had an arm around each other's shoulder in a huddle but were looking in opposite directions. The latter was even whistling a variant of his 'Shampoo Song'.

"You're in charge of wiggling it out of Ochibi, Momo! I'll get it out of Oishi."

"Hai[4]!"

"Chot-to mat-te[5]!" He wailed on second thought. "Why do I have to deal with Echizen? He's only marginally more vocal than Bucho[6]!"

"Ne… Eiji-sempai[7]…"

But the third-year had already followed Oishi into the next court.

...

During lunch break the next day, Momoshiro gathered the three non-regular first-years who hung around Echizen Ryoma.

"Erm, I don't think there's anything wrong with Ryoma-kun[8], Momo-chan[9]-sempai," answered Kato Kachiro. Mizuno Katsuo looked rather undecided.__

"Heh! You two are too slow to catch such things," Horio Satoshi said in his grating, mightier-than-thou tone. "With my two years of tennis experience, I can tell that Echizen is very distracted nowadays."

"What has tennis experience got to do with this?"

"Really!" Momoshiro exclaimed through a mouthful of soba[10] bun.

"That's because Horio-kun is in the same class as Ryoma-kun."

Before Horio could counter the two negative responses, Momoshiro intercepted with a request for details.

"Eto[11] … Echizen usually pays attention in class ," he said with his chin in a hand, "Except English class. But he hasn't been all that attentive recently. Sometimes, he says, 'Mada mada dane[12]' to himself. And he'd even forgotten about an English test!_ Although he did score better than me._"

Momoshiro looked serious as he munched his first chocolate cookie. He had finished his three soba buns.

"But it's nothing to do with schoolwork from what I see. Tennis Club looked okay to me too. It's probably something at home. No girl problem either. _Unless it's too many girls. Hng!_ Must be something at home!" Horio concluded by pounding fist into palm.

"So ka[13]? Any idea what exactly?"

Three heads shook in unison.

"Hmm…" the quartet sounded in unison as their fellow lunchers looked on in amusement.

* * *

[1] Why 

[2] Kiddo

[3] Definitely

[4] Yes

[5] Wait a minute

[6] Club President

[7] senior

[8] title for a male who's a peer or junior

[9] title for someone who's a peer or junior & whom one's very close to

[10] buckwheat noodles

[11]Well

[12] It'd be a long time yet.

[13] That's why, is it?


	2. Mada mada dane

**Mada mada dane**

Actually, it came as a surprise.

There was a lot of whispering, and now that he came to think of it, shedded tears too. His aunt was frequently home for the past couple of months which Echizen thought was irregular. She was a tour guide and was seldom around. This did not elicit any comments, however, except a gripe about having too many Western style breakfasts.

A month ago, he had hardly stepped into his family compound before he was whipped away by a frantic Echizen Nanjiro. His father had always struck him as being overtly dramatic and hyper–excitable. Nonetheless, he was swept away by the older man's brute strength and death grip. They arrived at the hospital in time to hear the bad news from the doctor. His mother and aunt accompanied the comatose Nanako to the ward whilst father and son were dismissed. Echizen Nanjiro made it to the waiting room where he plonked himself onto a chair and bawled his lungs out. Echizen, on the other hand, removed himself to the farthest corner of the room and pretended to fall asleep.

"_It's not as if someone is burning his porno magazine collection._"

Unfortunately, nobody had the heart or guts, Echizen could not tell which, to shut the man up. So they were there for hours before his mother came down from the wards.

...

"Ryoma, Nanako has leukaemia. It's a type of cancer. Do you understand?"

He nodded.

"Will she get well?"

"Maybe," his mother replied whilst averting her eyes which were threatening to tear again, "She had it when she was five years old but she got well."

"Ahhh… _No problem then."_

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Ryoma?" she asked worriedly.

"Hai. If there's nothing else, I'm going up to my room."

"Ryoma… "

...

Nanako looked at her uncle with incredulity.

"Ne, he's going around like nothing is happening, baka[1]-mono[2]. He even goes for burgers on Saturdays before coming to the hospital. What is he thinking of? Baka-seishonen[3]!" Echizen Nanjiro looked ready to tear out his hair.

"So you want me to convince him that I might really die?" Nanako said slowly and methodically.

"Atari[4]! That way the baka-seishonen won't go around with that stupid smirk on his face while the rest of us are crying ourselves blind!"

"Would you do it, Nanako-chan?" The man asked earnestly as he clasped her hands in his with an imploring look.

"Eto… I can try."

He positively beamed at her.

"Arigato[5], Nanako-chan. I know you're the nicest girl in the world."

...

"You have to take care of yourself," said his mother softly. It was late, however, and he could hear their conversation clearly in the quiet.

"I thought it would be alright. I thought everything would be alright," the other woman said bitterly. "Oh, how I hated myself for being a hepatitis virus carrier! How grateful I was to Nan-chan for donating his bone marrow. How happy I was when the marrow grafted and Nanako-chan was finally out of the hos-"

"There, there," He heard his mother said after the conversation was muffled by much crying and broken sentences.

"So _Oyaji**[6]** donated his marrow the last time,_" Echizen thought later as he lay wide awake in his bedroom. "_He should do it again this time. I'll make him do it even if I have to… _"

He spent the entire night determining what he could do if Echizen Nanjiro refused.

...

Echizen Nanjiro stared at the centre-spread. He was panting lightly from his previous exertion.

"What kind of bakayaro[7] would want to hack his otosan[8]'s leg for bone marrow?"

He looked at the model clad in sailor-uniform.

"Nanako-chan looked so kawai[9]."

She was bald and had rounded limbs and body due to the chemotherapy and immune suppressants she was taking. But she was always ready with a smile. And even in great pain, spirit danced in those big eyes. Nobody lost heart then.

"But she's a bishojo[10] now ne! Not my chubby kotori[11] anymore ne! All grown up ne!"

"Ne, ne…"

He swiped his eyes with his sleeves, mumbled half-heartedly about dust and wind, and looked with disinterest at his newest magazine.

...

The yellow blossoms swayed gently in the light. They were expensive; those flowers. But Echizen had stopped going for burgers on weekdays with Momoshiro and was able to save some money for them. He loved the look on his cousin's face when she saw them. She had thanked him profusely.

"Mo, Ryoma-san," Nanako said in a worried tone, "Did you hurt Ojisan?"

"He won't be so lucky next time."

Nanako looked at the sullen face with worry and joy. Contrary to her uncle's views, she found it oddly comforting that Echizen was his usual self.

"_Although he has learnt to buy flowers for girls now_."

She saw her cousin's pout and promptly stopped grinning.

"It won't help if Ojisan[12] donated his bone marrow this time, Ryoma-san," she explained gently. "The cancer has spread. There's nothing the doctors can do now."

...

Echizen swept the shrine grounds unhappily. His father was in his usual position on the bell platform. The latter had squealed on him and he was being punished by his mother.

"_Unfair!_"

"_Zettai ne! No way this baka gets to live longer than the rest of us._"

He swept fervently to demonstrate his conviction.

* * *

[1] stupid 

[2] thing

[3] young man

[4] Correct

[5] Thank you

[6] Old Man

[7] bastard

[8] father

[9] cute

[10] beautiful girl

[11] small bird

[12] Uncle


	3. Desu

**Desu**

No one can deny that conversing with Oishi is more pleasant than conversing with Tezuka. In terms of pleasant conversation, the vice-captain wins hands down, that is, if you could make Tezuka hold a conversation for a fair comparison in the first place. However, Echizen knew that it would be easier to explain the situation to Tezuka. He would probably 'hn'-ed economically and maybe nod his consent to early leave and relief of all first-yearly duties. Unfortunately, the captain was in Germany.

He knew Oishi was keeping his promise of secrecy by the look of compounding stress on his face.

Now he had to deal with Momoshiro.

The second-year had been hounding him for days, trying all the clumsy ways and means to sound him out. If Momoshiro was a diplomat, he would probably sell his country to five other countries by spending two hundred yen. And that is a bargain, that is. With his limited knowledge of Momoshiro, he knew the second-year would drop all pretences and ask the question directly. So he waited.

It took longer to explain the situation to Momoshiro than to Oishi. "_Ah, Bucho, where are you when you're needed?_" And Echizen made a mental note to tell Nanako that his seniors found her voice sweet and gentle when he got home.

He rubbed the back of his hand across his eyes to stop himself from tearing. He found it strange for he had not shed a tear throughout the affair. However, Momoshiro was crying generously; fat tears rolled in torrents down his face. Any gathered moisture in Echizen's eyes vapourised as he was crushed by strong arms into a hard chest.

"You must be so sad ne, Echizen. You poor thing! Don't worry, Nanako-san will get well soon."

Echizen levered some breathing space for himself with his racket bag.

"Momo-sempai."

"_sob_… _sob_… Hai. _sob_…"

"Don't tell anyone, please?"

x.x.x

"Did he say 'please'?" Momoshiro wondered as he got ready for bed.

"Yes, he did!" He wailed as he smothered himself on his pillow.

"What am I going to tell Kikumaru-sempai? He couldn't get anything out of Oishi-sempai. He'd ignore me for the rest of my life, if I don't tell him. But Echizen said 'please'. I can't ignore my kohai[1]'s request, can I? With a question mark too!"

"Fine, I'd pretend I don't know anything. But sempai is so smart, he'd know. Ahhhhhh, Echizen! Why did you have to tell me? Why did you have to be so polite? You were never polite! You're an arrogant baka-chibi[2], remember?"

* * *

[1] junior 

[2] kid


	4. Wasurezu ni gyunyu o nomde kudasai

**Wasurezu ni gyunyu o nomde kudasai[1]**

Somehow, it did not surprise Echizen. It was a miracle that Oishi managed to keep it confidential for so long. It was an even bigger miracle that Momoshiro was not the one who let the cat out of the bag. In fact, Momoshiro was reprimanded more severely than him by Kikumaru who was rather indignant about not being told. On the other hand, the vice-captain had apologised so profusely that Echizen was rather embarrassed. Apparently, Kikumaru had tricked it out of Oishi. And Fuji was somewhere in the picture, though Echizen could not quite make out where, as Oishi was bowing at some frequency whilst explaining.

That was why he was currently at the head of a procession, heading home.

x.x.x

Breakfast was impressive. There were his favourite grilled mackerel, chawanmushi[2], tofu and seaweed salad, baked pumpkin, miso soup and his standard ration of milk.

"Enjoy your breakfast ne, Ryoma-san."

"Ahh."

"Please leave the dishes in the sink. I'll wash them later," Nanako said with a smile before returning to her room.

Since she came home, her hair and brows had grown back somewhat. She was often tired and took regular long naps but she had woken up early everyday to prepare breakfast for everyone; Western-style for her mother and Japanese for his family.

x.x.x

He was rather happy that his cousin had come home. He did not like the hospital. It was nice to see her in her usual clothes, doing her usual things.

There were a lot of visitors though. The regulars were a bunch of girls from her old high school. Echizen tend to leave the house when they were there. Sometimes, they would be so giddy that he was sure they were relatives of Sakuno and that Tomo-something. Others, they would have a mass weeping session. But they came everyday and Nanako seemed to enjoy their company so Echizen practiced quietly at the shrine's court every afternoon.

He had to bathe Karupin now. Nanako was not strong enough to do that anymore. Although Karupin would gladly soak in the tub with him, he found that the sight of the pet shampoo bottle was enough to agitate the Himalayan cat. It reminded him of Kawamura and tennis rackets. It was also very embarrassing to be running after a 'bubbly' cat into a roomful of girls.

And there were always flowers.

x.x.x

"Ah, gomen nasai[3]," Kato Kachiro shifted the bouquet of Golden Shower so that he could see in front, "Ryuzaki-san."

"Daijobu[4]," the long-haired girl replied with a wan smile. She was carrying a homemade cake.

"I'm so excited! This is my first visit to Ryoma-sama's home!"

"Tomo-chan…"

"Hai, hai. I know we're not there for fun," Osakada Tomoka said. "But aren't you excited, Sakuno?"

Her friend lowered her head with a blush.

DONG!

DONG!

"Nani[5]?" Kaido Kaoru complained as he held his hands to his ears.

"Is there a monk running amok around here nya? Who rings the bells at this time of the day? Nyaaaaa… my ears!"

DONG!

Momoshiro looked around the neighbourhood.

"_This is pretty near Echizen's house._"

DONG!

"Could it be from the shrine behind your house, Echi-" Momoshiro looked at the stoned first-year.

DONG!

"Echizen! Echizen, daijobu ka[6]? Oi! Echizen!"

DONG!

"Momo-sempai…" the short boy said softly.

"Nani?"

DONG!

He pressed his face into the chest in front and cried.

* * *

[1] Please remember to drink milk 

[2] Steamed egg with various ingredients

[3] sorry

[4] No problem

[5] What

[6] are you alright


End file.
